Arsenal centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes grabbed the winner for the Gunners in the 64th minute against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, ensuring they returned to winning ways after the dissapointing 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break.
The North Londoners played Spurs with a decimated squad, with Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko all missing the game.
However, it did not stop Arsenal from winning, and Alan Shearer was impressed with Gabriel, showering praise on the Brazilian defender on the latest episode of the Rest is Football podcast.
“Another set piece,” the former striker said.
“Gabriel, who I thought was absolutely outstanding, not only for the goal but for his overall performance.
“He was superb.”
The 26-year-old has now scored 15 Premier League goals for Arsenal – the most scored by any defender since he joined them in September 2020.
He is also the fourth Arsenal player in history to score more than ten headed goals in the Premier League and is on course to set a record if he keeps going at this rate.
Gabriel was close to leaving the club last summer after he was left out of the starting XI at the start of the 2023-24, and manager Mikel Arteta will be glad they held on to him in the end.
He is a huge threat at both ends of the pitch, and he will be scoring more goals this term given that set-piece is one of the greatest weapons Arsenal have in their arsenal.
The Gunners have the best goals-per-100-set-pieces record (5.7) in the Premier League since 2021, scoring the most goals (22) from them – excluding penalties – and the most goals from corners (16).
Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover continues to come up with routines that opponents find difficult to defend against, and their huge aerial presence they boast within their ranks will continually come in handy going forward.
